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Susceptibility of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci to Environmental Disinfectants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Roger L. Anderson ,
Janice H. Carr ,
Walter W. Bond  and
Martin S. Favero
Roger L. Anderson*
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Service, US Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia
Janice H. Carr
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Service, US Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia
Walter W. Bond
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Service, US Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia
Martin S. Favero
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Service, US Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia
*
Hospital Infections Program, CDC, 1600 Clifton Rd, 1-B383, M/S C01, Atlanta, GA 30333
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Abstract

Objective:

To determine the susceptibilities of vancomycin-resistant and -sensitive enterococci (VRE and VSE) to various concentrations of commonly used, commercial, hospital-grade disinfectants.

Design:

A microbial suspension test using inocula of 108 cells per mL in a disinfectant test dilution was used to determine inactivation kinetics of the test strains. In each test, 1-mL aliquots were removed from the cell-disinfectant mixtures at 15 and 30 seconds and then at 1-minute intervals for 5 minutes and neutralized. Appropriate serial dilutions were plated on agar medium for enumeration of survivors.

Results:

VRE and VSE challenge inocula (in the absence of any additional protein or serum challenge) were below the limit of detection (5 colony-forming units/mL) after 15 seconds' exposure to the manufacturers' suggested use-dilutions of quaternary ammonium, phenolic, or iodophor germicidal detergents. In subsequent tests, when the disinfectants were diluted far beyond the recommended use-dilutions (extended dilution), no differences were demonstrated between the susceptibilities of VRE and VSE.

Conclusions:

VRE and VSE are sensitive to a spectrum of commonly used environmental disinfectants and have parallel inactivation rates when challenged with extended dilutions of these products. Our findings did not demonstrate a relationship between antibiotic and germicide resistance. Routine disinfection and housekeeping protocols presently used in hospitals need not be altered due to concerns about the potential for environmentally mediated transmission of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , March 1997 , pp. 195 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1997

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